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Seventeen years ago, Electronic Arts' Pinball Construction Set was all the rage on Apple computers (the lesser-known PC version is on this site). Users could design fun, albeit primitive, pinball tables. Since that time, pinball fans have been in the dark with failed construction set releases, most recently from 21st century. Rejoice! The wait is now over with Randy Davis' Visual Pinball, a visual basic masterpiece for Windows users. Visual Pinball is a virtually limitless construction kit that allows unprecedented freedom. Some of the features described on the website include: "plungers, flippers, kickers, bumpers, ramps, lights, text displays, gates, spinners, timers, triggers, decals, and drop targets... all at your disposal. Flashing arrows, arcs, semi-circles; lights can be made into any shape you desire, or choose a simple circle to quickly whip a concept up. Tables come alive with realistic shading and shadows. Choose to view the table at any angle, at any resolution – a small window to play while multi-tasking or full-screen max-resolution for the complete pinball effect. Add your own pictures to walls, floors, spinners, bumpers, and targets to give your game a distinctive personality. Choose any color you want for other parts like flippers, lights and text displays." The game is amazingly good, and will only get better with time as it's currently in an advanced beta stage. As of the writing of this review in late Feb, 2001, numerous artists and designers have used Visual Pinball to create their own unique tables or recreate great tables from the real world of pinball! This reviewer's favorite orginal tables are Fish Frenzy and Bomb Squad, while favorite recreations are The Addams Family, Fireball, El Dorado, Gorgar, Black Knight 2000, Eight Ball and Eight Ball Deluxe. Once the final version is complete, Visual Pinball will most probably be a mega hit and widely known within a year. But right now, get in while it is largely unknown, and enjoy the early days of this marvelous program. Two thumbs up! Reviewed by: Duglis | |
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Visual Pinball 
